You can build your own. But do it for your own amusement, for the sake of the journey, NOT TO SAVE MONEY.
that was my only point, but somehow it hasn't gone through to many yet... On Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 10:41 PM, cwhill <[email protected]>wrote: > Not having the skills I wouldn't attempt to built one myself but I have > plenty of experience in other woodworking projects. > True, you could chip away with a lump of flint and eventually make a HG I > suppose but, after years of messing around with the "wrong" tool or "making > do" with a cheap version, there is just no comparison in the final project. > All woodworking tools should be precision instruments. Good tools stay sharp > longer (blunt tools damage the work). I used a cheap set of chisels for > years and then, when I broke one, I splashed out on a good one and what a > difference it made. Not only to the finish but also (and this is maybe more > important) the amount of time it took me to do the job. > If you are going to spend a reasonable amount of money on the parts, it's a > shame to ruin them with cheap tools. > Comparison can be made with a good wine and a bottle of cheap stuff. The > cheap stuff may taste OK but when you compare it to a decent > vintage................. > I used to make whistles from elder twigs as a child and they played. Not > quite the same quality as a decent recorder though. > No, you don't need to build a steinway piano but, considering all the bits > you would need to buy, I can't see the point of making something out of an > orange crate even if it does make a piano sound. > Just my opinion of course. > Maybe one should think about building a car from scratch or buying one from > a dealer who has all the jigs etc. I know which I'd try for - even if I had > to save for longer to get it. > > Colin Hill > > > > > On 25/10/2011 21:52, Steven Tucker wrote: > >> On Mon, 24 Oct 2011, Steven Tucker wrote: >> >> That is a very curious statement to make: That it will cost a >> lot of money to make your own instrument. >> >> On Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 4:57 PM, Alden F M Hackmann >> <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected].**edu<[email protected]>>> >> wrote: >> For a professional level of instrument, I believe this is the case. >> >> >> Still looking for details as to where the money will be spent. What >> tools would you consider essential to build an instrument, and why would >> it not be possible to use a cheaper alternative? >> >> For example I know from experience that it's possible to tune up a cheap >> $15 hand plane to work just as well as a high quality $300 hand plane. >> (Although I admit there's no point in sharpening a $2 plane blade when >> there are Hock blades for under $40.) >> >> . . . >> >> Wow, what shop bandsaw costs $10,000? >> >> Perhaps I should have put "$10,000" in quotes. It's something of an >> in-joke among the luthiers I know. However, any good re-sawing band saw >> that will handle up to 24" boards will run you from $8,000 upwards of >> $20,000. >> >> >> I wish it were that simple. It's not just a matter of time, and >> it's not just a matter of tools: it's a matter of skill. As >> builders, we serve the sound of the instrument, and to get a really >> good sound requires substantial skill, time, good tools, and good >> materials. [snip. . .] >> >> >> I suppose any argument here depends on what you mean by "really good" >> sound. It is possible in this Internet age for a complete beginner to >> do enough research to find out what exactly makes for an exceptional >> sounding instrument and to devise testing and analysis methods to >> actually create an exceptional sounding instrument. Although I freely >> admit that the Gurdy's Chladni patterns, acoustic response >> characteristics, frequency response curves, etc. have not been mapped >> out so far as I can tell. >> >> So here's another question for you all: Is there an exceptional "Gurdy" >> sound? To a Classical Guitar player and a Flamenco Guitar player there >> is a huge difference in sound between a Classical Guitar and a Flamenco >> Guitar -- to anyone else they sound the same. Is this true for the >> Hurdy Gurdy as well? All of the various gurdies I've heard in person >> (YouTube doesn't count) have all had their own individual "voices", most >> quite different from the others. Would anyone ever say about a hurdy >> gurdy "that's an interesting sounding instrument, but it doesn't sound >> like a hurdy gurdy"? >> >> As to good materials, I know several luthiers who won't use anything but >> old growth European Spruce grown above 7000' on a north slope. But then >> I've heard several exceptional sounding guitars built from locally >> sourced coastal Douglas Fir. (and one really good sounding guitar built >> by Bob Taylor made from a shipping pallet.) >> >> >> I'm not trying to dissuade people from building their own >> instruments, just to dissuade them from having unrealistic >> expectations about doing so. >> >> >> I'll go back to my original contention (unstated) that it's not only >> possible, but probable, for a beginner to build a well-working, >> good-sounding, playable instrument without spending very much money >> provided they are willing to put in many more hours than would be >> reasonable in any production or professional level shop. Lack of skill >> and knowledge can be overcome by time and diligence. >> >> -Steve >> >> P.S. >> >> For what it's worth, the old builders who sawed their own wood to >> thickness and cut it with planes and saws and scrapers and files >> were AMAZING. However, they also spent years and years learning >> their craft as apprentices, so that by the time they were building, >> they had amassed ten or twenty solid years of hand skills that I can >> only dream of having. That's not 500 hours, it's more like 25,000 >> hours. The Industrial Revolution changed all that, and now we do it >> differently, investing money in tools instead of time in skills. >> Either way, to get a good quality result, you're going to have to >> make an investment somewhere. >> >> >> Ok, this is off topic from the original thread, but I have to say my >> understanding of the apprentice system is that the seven years working >> in the shop was required to pay back the master who only slowly doled >> out the knowledge, since he was effectively training his own >> competition. 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